The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa
stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call
our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves
from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new
flavor profiles.

Epicurious’ definition of Quick Bread:

Bread that is made without any kneading or rising time is a
quick bread. That's because the leavener in such a bread is usually baking
powder or baking soda, which, when combined with moisture, starts the rising
process immediately. In the case of double-acting baking powder, oven heat
causes a second burst of rising power. Eggs can also be used to leaven quick
breads. This genre includes most biscuits, muffins, popovers and a wide variety
of sweet and savory loaf breads.

Here are few things we should follow for this challenge:

* No yeast

* Can’t take more
than 1.5 hours to prepare and bake through.

* Only loaves or
muffins/popovers

Here is my version of quick bread. This is a base recipe and you can add fruits,
nuts and flavorings of your choice. As I
love oranges here is Fruit and Nut Orange Loaf.
You will be mesmerized by the aroma when you bake this... here you go...

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. I used 8 inch loaf pan. Grease it with butter and dust it with flour.

2. in a large bowl sieve flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each
addition.

5. Once they are mixed well add the vanilla and orange zest.

6. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture in the butter mixture, whisk
well.

7. Stir in the orange juice and yogurt, followed by the
remaining flour.

8. Once everything is mixed well.

9. Stir in the fruits and nuts dusted with 1/4 tsp of flour.

10. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.

11. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. If the top of the bread is nicely browned
after 30 minutes just close with aluminum foil to prevent over browning.

12. Test the loaf
after 50 minutes with a toothpick to see if it’s done.

13. If the toothpick is not clean, bake for another 10 minutes.

14. Once done, let it
cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let it cool
nicely. This is very important to have
neat slices. So patience is important here. Though I will never wait :):)

Enjoy the Fruit and Nut Orange loaf with coffee or tea!!!

Note :

1. You can also brush it with orange marmalade when the bread is hot. This gives a glossy finish to the loaf.

2. You can also serve this bread with orange glaze which tastes so good.

The beautiful leaves of the kale plant provide an earthy
flavor and more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food
around. Like broccoli, cauliflower and collards; kale is a descendant of
the wild cabbage, a plant thought to have originated in Asia.
Kale can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits. Kale’s risk-lowering benefits for cancer have
recently been extended to at least five different types of cancer. Kale is now recognized as providing
comprehensive support for the body's detoxification system.

We love kale in any form like sautéing, steaming etc. Munching Kale in the form of chips is another
way of including them in your diet. I am
sure you cannot stop at just eating one. There are umpteen number of ways you
can flavor the kale. But here is a simple flavoring for Kale with spicy
garlicky flavor. Hope you enjoy the
healthy post!!!

BAKED KALE CHIPS

Ingredients:

Kale - 2 bunches

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Cayenne/Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Garlic Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp (Add according to your preference, usually I
add very little)

Method:

1. Tear the leaves
from the stem/stalk to big or bite size pieces.( as it shrinks while baking).

2. Rinse the kale in
cold running water. Make sure there are no trace of mud or soil.

3. Dry them in the Kitchen towel. There should not be any moisture.

4. Then mix the garlic powder, salt and Garlic powder with
the olive oil.

5. Now massage the Kale leaves with this mixture until they
are well coated.

6. Spread the Kale in the baking tray.

7. Bake them for 20 to 25 minutes in the 300f preheated
oven, by flipping the Kale once every 10 minutes.

8. The time depends or varies in different oven. Let it bake until it is crispy and make sure
the edges are slightly brown but not burnt.

Note:

1. You can make chips with any type of Kale. The baking time depends on how thick the leaves are.2. Play with your imagination by adding different flavors each time. 3. You can also follow the same procedure with chard, spinach too

Lemon Posset, there is no other dessert easier than
this. This is extremely easy, quick and
tangy pudding. You need not search for
any fancy ingredients. If you are lemony
person then this is the perfect dessert for you. With just 4 ingredients..here you go for
delicious dessert.... See notes for variations.

LEMON POSSET

Ingredients:

Heavy cream - 300 gm

Sugar - 110 gm

Meyer Lemon - 2

Zest of 1 lemon

Whipped cream for garnishing

Method:

1. Bring cream and sugar to boil until sugar is melted.

2. Stir constantly and adjust the heat to avoid over
boiling.

3. Now put off the flame.

4. Stir in the juice of 2 lemon and zest.

5. Let it cool. Now
divide the mixture to the serving cups.

6. Cover the posset and chill it. Let it chill at least for 3 to 4 hours or
even overnight.

We love corn in any form and this is no exception. Taste of corn with milk and little tadka (tempering) is really yummy. This is an easy snack that can be made with few ingredients. Today I have used canned corn but you can use steamed fresh sweet corn, frozen one (thawed) whichever is available. The point is you have to cook the corn in the milk for some time until the 3/4th of the moisture is absorbed which gives nice milky taste to the corn. But today I have cooked the corn until all the milk is absorbed. Either way it tastes great. SRHZHJP5J7YV Here is a quick post !!!

1. Heat the milk in the vessel. Add the steamed, canned or frozen corn in the milk.2. When 3/4 th of the milk is absorbed. Put off the flame.3. Heat oil in the pan; add mustard seeds, cumin seeds when it splutters.4. Add the ginger paste, green chilli and Asafoetida.5. Now add the corn, salt, chilli powder, Coconut give it a nice toss until well blended.6. Now serve hot with lemon wedges and chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy the Milky Corn Snack!!!

Note:

1. If you feel like eating corn saucy then cook them until 3/4th of the milk is absorbed else cook the corn until full moisture is absorbed. I personally love both the ways.2. You can also coarse the corn in the blender and cook in the milk.(Make sure it does not become like a paste)

Hi, I am very glad to share the news that I came first in
the Sweet Pongal cooking competition conducted by Mid-South Tamil Sangam and
they have given me the honorary title of "Mid-South Pongal Arasi (Queen)". As it is a traditional cooking competition, innovation took a back seat. So I just sticked with the originality and make sure it tastes great. I did not had much time to plan anything
ahead, as I came to know about this competition very late. After that I was very much occupied with
other works. Anyways I am happy with
what I did minimally :).Click here to see the Pongal Recipe.

Sandwich is one of the best things to have for
breakfast. It is easy to make and
delicious to eat. Sandwich is an integral part of our family
because we all love Sandwich. I have to
make it different so as to not get bored with same; I play with my imagination
when it comes to Sandwich.

You can find many sandwich and toasts recipes
and spreads that I use for making sandwiches here…

I am really excited to be part of "World Nutella Day
2012"[WND].Last year I missed
being part of this wonderful day even though I am big fan of Nutella :) It gives me immense
pleasure and happiness to be part of this day because Nutella is always our
favorite spread which we use it for breakfast, desserts in a big way.It’s absolutely an awesome spread with
wonderful chocolate and Hazelnut taste.Today I made Nutella Shake with Nutella cream, which tastes excellent.Milkshake is a favorite for everyone and
milkshake with nutella and to top it off with Nutella Cream is Heavenly.Trust me it tastes awesome and we end up licking
our glasses clean for sure.Hope you and your
family will enjoy this treat.